21 January, 2014

The box can be used for the Spicy, or Xtra Spicy, but they didn't poke out the little "Xtra" tab like they should have

Consumed on 31 December 2013

Location - Abu Dhabi International Airport, United Arab Emirates

Price - 17AED = $4.63USD

Calories - 569kcal

That's all that makes this "Xtra" compared to the original "Spicy"

Probably more salt than a small burger should have.

My wife and I transited Abu Dhabi airport on the way to and from Canada over our Christmas holiday. On the way there we were transiting from 6-9am, so I hoped that I could get the McHalloumi breakfast sandwich, but much to my disappointment I found out that this McDonald's branch does not serve breakfast items whatsoever. Since we had a redeye from Malaysia, I skipped having one of the new promo burgers until my return flight on New Years Eve. Now, our original intention was to go out of the airport and experience New Years Eve in Abu Dhabi, since we had a long stop from 8pm-2am, but our flight from Chicago was delayed and we were a tired, so we ended up just taking a shower and having a relaxing couple of hours in the lounge before our connecting flight. I took this as an opportunity to have one of the new promos on offer, even though I wasn't at all hungry. There were three promos I could have had at the time, the Spicy Grand Chicken, which we had last year when my wife and I holidayed in the Middle East, the Spicy Chicken Big Mac, or the Xtra Spicy McChicken. I went with the McChicken over the Big Mac because it was "Xtra" spicy, and it was smaller than the Big Mac.

You can usually know which burgers I eat with my wife, as there will be the obligatory ugly eating photos.

When I ordered, I felt the burger was a little pricey, since a regular McChicken in the US is $1, and only $2SGD here in Singapore (where I feel its the best value on the menu, the regular meals are very expensive). It was a touch bigger than the McChicken's we get here, and it did have cheese on it. The batter that covered the chicken was also thinner than the patties we get here. I also am not sure if the 17AED price was because it was within the airport, it may have very well been cheaper in the city. I am also not sure how much of a premium they charged for this "Xtra" spicy variant, but much like the Spicy Grand Chicken we had last year, we definitely could taste the spice within the patty. The patty was juicy with seasoning, but the chicken meat itself was a bit dry, and there was a kick in every bite, but other than that, it was a pretty standard burger. The bun, mayo, lettuce was nothing special at all, but I guess they left that for the even more expensive other promo burgers. Both my wife and I felt that it was far from bad, but it could have been much better. Though, if this were the same price as a standard McChicken, I would take this variant over the standard.